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Barcelona’s loss at home to Real Madrid before a test trip to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday was a nasty little jolt to Ronald Koeman’s previously robust brilliance as a new coach at Camp Nou. The Dutchman’s exuberant roll of the dice to start 17-year-old Pedri against the La Liga champions didn’t work; in fact, it failed.
However, fair play for Koeman, when he rolls the dice, he may win big or look silly. His other experiment with pulling Philippe Coutinho out of the 10th position left the previously exuberant Brazilian trotting to little effect when his team was on offense and making disjointed efforts to get close to his opponents when he was supposed to be backing away, tackling or pressing. It was an extremely bad day at the office, followed by a muscle injury that will put Coutinho out for a couple of weeks.
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Worst of all for Koeman, whose brief reign had not only introduced a Pax Romana in the midst of the fighting, the destruction of the empire and the blame that surrounded him at the Camp Nou, but had started to get Barça back to play. briskly and brightly, he was utterly discouraged. their lines when it came to making much-needed substitutions. It was not simply ‘too little too late’, but his utter inability to recognize the jarring performances of Pedri and Coutinho, when it was obvious at halftime, was like listening to a man in boxing gloves play a piano concerto by Mozart. Fascinating … but horrible.
However, adverse results, even a 3-1 Classic The defeat that casts salt on the wounds of one of the previous six points, against Getafe and Sevilla, plus a goal scored in the last 260 minutes of the League, is short-lived. Unless things continue to spiral downward, the sting can evaporate, the lessons can be absorbed, and the humiliation can be used as a thorn in the side to spur a proud squad in the complicated rebuilding process.
And there was a short-term credibility boost for Koeman, make no mistake about it. After just one year as a full-fledged senior professional with Ajax, 19-year-old American winger Sergino Dest, the first American to play in the Classic, it was exceptionally impressive. If you started a list of the best players that came out of that incredibly visible and full of quality Classic then Dest would be the first Barcelona player named, without a doubt. This is neither exaggeration nor overexcitement.
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At Dest’s age, settling into a squad in search of his identity during a stormy period, which could still end with Koeman’s removal next May if Victor Font wins the impending presidential election and club legend Xavi is willing. to take office, it is difficult. and drops in form should be expected. Perhaps we won’t consistently see the best of this highly competitive and agile offensive-minded defender for a couple of seasons, when he’s 21 years old.
But what Dest showed against Real Madrid, who kept flooding five or six forwards even at 2-1 and 3-1 up, when the Barcelona midfielders gave up the chase, was enough to get our attention. The American finished as the third center-back (with Gerard Piqué and Clement Lenglet) in a 3-4-1-2 formation for the final 10 minutes and seemed born for the role.
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His abundant highlights against Madrid certainly helped Koeman’s credibility. Barcelona, through their now-deceased football boss Eric Abidal, had a prior agreement with Norwich to sign right-back Max Aarons and add him to the ever-growing line of ‘so you want me to replace Dani Alves? ‘ aspirants.
Aarons was understandably interested, his agent was making round trips between the two clubs and the main debate was whether the deal would become permanent right away, would it be a ‘under approval’ loan scheme or a loan deal with a guaranteed purchase price written on Then came Koeman. The Dutchman insisted that as soon as Nelson Semedo’s € 30 million deal to the Wolves was completed, it was imperative that Dest be signed for € 21 million and Aarons scrapped.
Bayern Munich had also been linked to the pair but, until 48 hours before Dest was announced as a new Barça signing, the German giants were absolutely convinced they would sign him. The European champions must have cursed the red, white and blue skies in disbelief when Dest’s agents told Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic that their client preferred to join the club. The perpetual champions of Germany had just thrashed 8-2 on the way to winning the treble.
Last year there was a hint when former Ajax, Inter and Everton winger Andy vanvan der Meyde, now working on television, asked the emerging Ajax full-back if he wanted life in Spain and at which club. Dest replied: “I think it will be better for me to play for Barcelona. Madrid is different, it’s more about total effort and fighting hard to win. I see comparisons between Feynoord and Ajax: Feyenoord is Madrid and Ajax is Barça.” . “I guess it was written in the stars right there.
Play1: 09Dest looked ‘calm and comfortable’ in the first Clásico
Ale Moreno praises Sergino Dest’s performance in his first Clásico despite Barcelona’s 3-1 defeat.
However, with the Juventus game arriving on Wednesday, and given that Piqué’s red card against Ferencvaros means that he will be watching from his couch instead of going into battle against Álvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala, it could be that Koeman decides that there is a place for Sergi Roberto. considerable experience on the right back instead of Dest.
Piqué’s absence means that 21-year-old Uruguayan Ronald Araujo will probably be Lenglet’s teammate as a central defender, but in what formation? If Koeman is happy enough to go back to 4-2-3-1 because his three on his back were just a Hail Mary attempt at the end of a loss Classic When you wanted to flood the field with attacking substitutes (too late coach, VERY too late), maybe you ask Roberto to help Araujo as a companion and tell Dest to watch from the bench?
I hope not. It seems like a laughable idea given the good performance of the American international since he entered as a left back for the injured Jordi Alba at the end of the draw against Sevilla three weeks ago. But you never know.
Alba recovered early from a muscle strain to try to repel Madrid, and indeed created much of Barcelona’s attacking threat, including his excellent draw. He worked until he fell and, although he has not injured himself again, the enormous physical exertion he put in followed by the shortest recovery time, then a flight to Turin and a match against tough series rivals, could make physical therapists, doctors and Koeman Ponder the idea of letting him start at the bank. As a result, Dest may be asked to play as a left back again.
As a side note, if Araujo is chosen to replace Piqué, it will be fascinating to watch the 21-year-old. Recently, Barcelona has become a brand name to buy and sell badly (more than 350 million euros spent on Ousmane Dembélé, Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann compared to what the three have returned for the disbursement) and, in a moment in which several players have been renewed for contracts that do not make sense, with inflated salaries, who can claim that they have their fingerprints on the signing of Araujo for around 2 million euros from the Uruguayan side Boston River in August 2018 can step out of the line of fools in that department.
The towering center-back has been quick, athletic and increasingly confident in getting the ball out from behind whenever he has had significant exposure to the first team. It has a lot to prove and a lot to learn, but it could be that in Araujo, and almost certainly in Dest, Barcelona has been bucking its tendency to squander ridiculous sums on footballers who don’t fit in and who are sold for massive financial losses.
Perhaps an unrestricted night in Turin, under scrutiny by the perpetual Serie A champions, even if they don’t have Cristiano Ronaldo to call, will hurt my prediction. But right now it’s easy to see that Wednesday will be the start of Dest and Araujo playing together, successfully and pleasantly, for a long time.
Source: espn.co.uk
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